YOLO (2024)

took me in an emotional roller coaster

This was the first Chinese movie I watched in the theater and also my first-ever review on MyDramaList.

Story: I LOVED IT! As someone who has been struggling with low self-esteem and losing weight all my life, this hit a little too close to home. Her growth in self-confidence and realizing that just because someone is nice to her doesn't mean that they have good intentions was beautiful to watch. It felt like I was along with her on the journey. I felt her happiness, sadness, frustration, anger, and also her helplessness. I was in tears when she was walking to the boxing match and you can see her past self in the reflection.

Acting: I think everyone did a good job. I didn't feel like anyone was doing a half-ass job.

Music: Connected well with the scenes and the background music was phenomenal. Loved the song they used when she was having her training montage.

Overall, loved it and is worth a watch.

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Supposed to be inspirational but falls flat

First - kudos to the actress/director Jia Ling for managing to lose 100 lbs in a year! I don't blame her for wanting to make money/get popular from it too in the form of a movie. I feel like fans seem to be divided on the whole weight loss stuff but good for her on getting more healthy. A Lululemon deal doesn't hurt at the end of the journey either, lol. So get that bag sis.

For the movie itself:
PROS
❀ Character growth
In the beginning, we see Le Ying essentially get bullied by everyone in her life. She's a people pleaser and thinks about others before herself - even to her own detriment. Her sister walked all over her, her best friend and ex-boyfriend walked all over her (and cheated in the meantime), and even her lover/coach walked all over her in the end. Boxing was the one thing though that she genuinely wanted to do for HERSELF. Getting into that ring and having a sparring session. She stayed strong in that regard and eventually got her goal in the end. One might think that winning the boxing match is her goal, but I think a more subtle - and important - goal is the ability to say no. And I enjoyed how that manifested at the end of the movie.

❀ Decent cinematography
I really liked the filters they used - it almost reminded me of a Wes Anderson color scheme. The shots were done pretty well and the boxing match was great. I heard that they consulted with an actual famous female boxer on that scene and it shows.

CONS
✕ Anticlimactic ending
I know I went off about the character growth lol but I thought the results of the boxing match would have been more... inspirational, I guess. This is probably the American in me lol. You kind of end it with an "all that and for what?" thought. I mean, obviously for the MC's own internal growth. But it makes it less powerful when the physical reality doesn't match the mental. I think maybe, they were aiming for a match like in Rocky where the journey is what matters, not the outcome. Basically if you give it your all then it doesn't matter what happens. But for some reason it doesn't feel as satisfying. Yes, she discovered her self-worth in the end, but I feel like she was so abused/mistreated in the beginning that the trade-off doesn't really match.

OVERALL
YOLO is one of those movies where right after I ended, I was like "this all?" But after sitting with the message, I started to appreciate it more. Is it inspiring? It's supposed to be, yes. It didn't quite reach the mark for me, though, although I can still appreciate the intent.

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